PAC Exam 2

Public opinion

What people think or feel about particular matters.

Random sampling

Selecting people so every member of the relevant population has an equal chance of being interviewed.

Sampling error

Variation in estimates caused by observing a sample rather than the entire population. A difference between two samples alone does not establish a poll’s statistical margin of error.

Political socialization

The development of political views through influences such as family and formative experiences.

Impressionable years hypothesis

Events during adolescence and early adulthood have especially strong effects on political attitudes.

Partisanship / partisan identification

Identification with, or a relatively stable attachment to, a political party.

Political ideology

A relatively consistent set of beliefs about the policies government should pursue.

Party sorting

Increasing alignment between party identification and issue positions.

Affective polarization

Dislike and distrust of members of the opposing party.

Heuristics

Informational shortcuts used to make political decisions, such as cues from trusted groups or parties.

Political participation

Activities through which citizens try to influence politics, including voting, campaign work, and contacting officials.

Voting-age population (VAP)

Residents old enough to vote, including some who are legally ineligible; using VAP generally produces a lower turnout rate than using VEP.

Voting-eligible population (VEP)

People legally eligible to vote; turnout equals ballots cast divided by VEP, multiplied by 100.

National Voter Registration Act

The 1993 motor-voter law that made registration easier through motor vehicle services and other opportunities.

Civic skills

Communication and organizational abilities that support political participation.

Mobilization

Encouragement or recruitment that prompts people to participate.

What three factors help explain political participation?

Resources such as time, money, and civic skills; political interest; and mobilization.

Political party

A group seeking to elect candidates to public office.

Party organization

The people and structures that recruit candidates and support campaigns.

Realignment

A major, enduring shift in the coalitions supporting one or both parties.

Primary election

An election used to select a party's nominee.

Open primary

A primary allowing participation without being a registered member of that party, subject to the particular system’s rules.

Invisible primary

The pre-voting competition to attract important party and interest-group support.

Plurality system

The candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority of more than half.

National convention

The party delegate meeting that formally nominates its presidential candidate.

What helps sustain the two-party system?

Plurality elections, winner-take-all electoral allocations, and voters' existing party preferences.

Caucus

A meeting of party participants where delegates are selected.

Momentum

Increased support in later contests following a victory, especially an unexpected one.

Electoral College

The system in which electors select the president; states other than Maine and Nebraska use winner-take-all allocation.

Battleground / swing state

A state either major candidate could realistically win, making it an important campaign target.

Retrospective voting

Voting based on evaluations of past performance.

Latent partisanship

A party attachment that a campaign can activate or reinforce.

Valence issue

An issue with a broadly shared goal, such as honest government, where disagreement concerns a candidate's ability or commitment to achieve it.

Positional issue

An issue on which candidates and voters disagree about the desired policy.

Incumbency advantage

The electoral advantage of current officeholders, helped by name recognition and fundraising.

Gerrymandering

Manipulating legislative district boundaries to favor a party.

Surge and decline

The tendency for a president's party to perform better in presidential elections and worse in midterms.

Coattails

Benefits other candidates receive from support for a candidate at the top of the ticket.

Political action committee (PAC)

A committee that raises and spends money for political purposes.

Soft money

Historically, party funds for activities not directly supporting a named candidate.

Super PAC

A committee that can raise unlimited funds for independent expenditures but cannot coordinate those expenditures with candidates or campaigns.

Interest group

An organization with a shared interest or goal that seeks to influence public policy rather than primarily elect candidates.

Institutional interest

A person or organization representing another organization or set of organizations.

Free rider problem

People can receive a collective benefit without contributing, making it harder to recruit support.

Public good

A benefit whose use by one person does not reduce its availability to others and from which nonmembers may also benefit.

Material incentive

A tangible membership benefit, such as discounts or services.

Social movement

A widely shared demand for change in the social or political order.

Lobbyist

Someone who seeks to influence legislation on behalf of a client, often by providing information and political cues.

Insider strategy

Seeking influence through direct engagement with policymakers, such as lobbying and providing information.

Earmark

A legislative provision directing a benefit to a particular recipient or project; the guide emphasizes benefits not separately reviewed on their merits by all of Congress.

Party press

Newspapers sponsored or controlled by political factions and parties.

Selective exposure

A preference for information that aligns with existing views.

Echo chamber

An information environment that repeatedly reinforces similar views with limited exposure to alternatives.

Fake news

Manufactured stories presented as news, often serving a political viewpoint or candidate.

Agenda-setting / gatekeeping

Media influence over which topics receive public attention.

Priming

Media influence over the criteria people use to evaluate political figures.

Framing

Emphasizing selected aspects of an issue to shape how audiences interpret it.

Watchdog role

Media scrutiny of government conduct to promote accountability, including investigations and fact checking.

Game frame

Coverage emphasizing political strategy and competition rather than substantive policy.

Prior restraint

Government restriction of publication before it occurs.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

The federal regulator responsible for broadcast licensing.

Equal time rule

Requirements for comparable broadcast opportunities for candidates, subject to qualifications and exceptions.

Get-out-the-vote (GOTV)

Efforts to mobilize people to cast ballots.

Party in the electorate

Party identities and attachments among voters.

Party in government

Officeholders who coordinate legislative and executive action through party affiliations.

Closed primary

A primary restricted to registered members of the relevant party.

Prospective voting

Voting based on proposed future policies.

Membership interest

An organization built around individual members.

Purposive incentive

The appeal of contributing to an organization’s goals.

Outsider strategy

Seeking influence through public pressure and mobilization.

Grassroots lobbying

Mobilizing citizens to communicate with public officials.

Popular press

Mass-readership newspapers seeking broad audiences.

Bots

Automated accounts used to repost and circulate content.

Horse-race journalism

Reporting focused on who is ahead or behind.

Poll

A survey intended to measure public opinion.

Exit poll

Interviews with sampled voters on Election Day.

Question wording

The particular language used in a survey question, which can influence responses.

Political elites

People with a disproportionate share of political power.

Activists

People who participate across many forms of political activity.

Crossover voting

Participation in another party’s primary.

National committee

The body managing party affairs between conventions.

Congressional campaign committee

A party committee supporting congressional candidates.

Defection

Support for a candidate outside one’s usual party.

Political cue

A signal that identifies the values at stake in a policy question.

Adversarial press

Journalism that approaches officials skeptically and seeks to uncover unfavorable information.

Fact checking

Evaluating the accuracy of public claims.

What two features are essential to a valid public opinion poll?

A properly drawn, representative sample and carefully worded, balanced questions. A large sample does not fix biased selection.

Why might easier voter registration not produce an equally large increase in voting?

Registration and voting are separate steps. Political interest, candidate preferences, and mobilization still affect whether registered people vote.

What is the basic presidential nomination sequence?

Invisible primary (early support), primaries and caucuses (nomination contests), then national convention (formal nomination).

What three considerations do campaigns connect to voting choices?

Credit or blame for national conditions, activated party attachments, and information about candidate qualities.

How does an independent expenditure differ from a direct campaign contribution?

A direct contribution gives money to a candidate’s campaign. An independent expenditure pays for political advocacy without coordination with the candidate or campaign.

What four factors promote interest-group formation?

Economic developments; government policies that create interests; leadership; and expansion of government activity. A shared concern alone does not automatically create an organization.

Why might government policy not mirror majority opinion?

Representation is not automatic majority rule, and policy can respond more strongly to economic elites and politically active citizens. Institutions and unequal participation mediate public preferences.

Institutional groups vs. membership groups

Institutional groups represent organizations or sets of organizations; membership groups are built around individual members.